What The Numbers Really Mean?

Whether it’s a social networking site post, a video-sharing network or a blog, the idea seems to be to get noticed. Hence, the words “trending”, “viral”, “likes” and “comments” have become buzzwords in the rather thickly populated worldwide web. You are hot and on the roll if you reap comments and reactions online. But really, how effective a measure is it to be given tons and tons of comments?

The Truth Behind The Comments

Let’s take a closer look at this aspect, particularly in blogging. So you notice numerous comments after a post. Would this necessarily mean you are doing well in terms of your blogging career? Well, that really depends on what your motivations are. If the main point to all your efforts is to just get noticed, then you will have succeeded. After all, hasn’t it been said that, “Good or bad publicity – is still publicity.” It’s clear that you are an engaging or possibly controversial person.

The thing is, the fulfillment that you derive from merely getting the attention of people is superficial. You would not believe, however, what lengths some people would go through to, so to speak, “collect comments”. Paying for comments is a well known practice. Hence, the term “vanity metric” was coined. Because all the success that one gets to project on account of the number of comments is all just about vanity. It’s basically just something to feed the ego. But wouldn’t we be fooling ourselves if this was the case?

Overcoming Vanity

So, if your goal goes beyond merely attracting attention, then you might want to take a closer look at the quality of comments that you rake in. Hopefully, you are reeling in more positive comments than criticism. Then again, even criticism is okay. For as long as it has substance. It can even help your blog become more interesting and engaging. You are bound to collect more regular lurkers when you attract the relevant comments. You do want those intelligent lurkers, don’t you? It would not be the first if you would eventually encounter comments that are completely off tangent. Some may post irrelevant comments on purpose for lack of better things to do; spamming on purpose or trolling.

Demystifying The Numbers Game

This is not to say that comments do not help make your pages more popular and a good number of comments on posts do not help at all. What we are trying to say here is that quantity does not necessarily translate to quality, especially if your blog writing is motivated with goals like being able to reach out to people and touch lives. This is also important if you want to make a living out of blog writing and give it an income earning potential. In this case, the real test is when your blog post is able to encourage more viewership from your target market and is able to link a reader to a page or pages where income can be generated – for example your business website.

The next step therefore is to look for ways to attract the right kind of audience. To do this, you can scour the Internet for tips and suggestions and you can read up on the subject. There are some practical measures you can take initially though. For example, you can choose the option to approve comments prior to them being posted. This way you get to filter out comments yourself. Another is to ensure that you respond to comments that you approve of. Nothing makes a reader happier than when a writer notices them and engages in conversation with him or her. This gives your pages a more personalized appeal and encourages your visitors to come back again for more.